As usual, I emailed my Ambassador and copied my contact at the hotel requesting the early check in—a week in advance. My Ambassador submitted the official Your24. That was denied yesterday by email. I got an email very early this am that another Your24 request has been submitted—so that’s all I can tell you. I have no idea if the hotel or my Ambassador re-submitted that 2nd Your24–but I did get the early check in!

I never did get any email indicating the Your24 was approved...but when I called this morning at 10 am, the front desk manager told me the Suite would be ready by 11 am for us.

My contact also had emailed back a week ago to let me know they would do whatever was possible for us to get an early check in. They obviously did!

End result: Ambassador status and/or frequent guest status helped me get an 11 am check in. I’ll gladly accept it, whatever the reason.

Almost all of our stays are at luxury brands too. Often when I submit a Your24 I receive a denial within 15 minutes, even at hotels where I stay frequently and have a great relationship (recently at the US Grant)

A few years ago when SPG had the “stay at all brands” challenge we stayed at our first (and to date only) Element & Aloft hotels. I submitted Your24s at both and was immediately approved. I also received a personal email from the manager welcoming me.

One factor may be that I submit my requests too early. I’m a super advance planner and I can understand that hotels are reluctant to promise something when they don’t yet know their occupancy levels.

My strategy this year is going to be to request closer to my actual arrival date when hotels can project occupancy.

Sounds to me like elite status doesn’t matter much anyway to you, so you’re wonderfully spared the worry of how Marriott will integrate this new Ambassador program and status and whether or not it will be worth it. You already seem to know that it isn’t worth it for you. Case closed.

You therefore can continue to enjoy staying at those very well run regular Marriott hotels and resorts that you obviously admire without any need for elite status recognition or elite benefits. Ambassador status clearly would and should be the least of your concerns.

I suppose there’s no need for you to worry at all about or need to qualify for Ambassador status in the new program nor what the perks might be for said status. Obviously, such benefits must arise solely from a Marriott hotel being well run and have nothing at all to do with elite status.

I confess to not understanding what constitutes “this formal SPG approach” from your comments.

The SPG approach, insofar as I can tell, created a loyalty program that was the class of hotel loyalty programs, providing elite benefits that made a lot of people cherish staying at SPG properties—and especially so for those who spend more than the average hotel customer.

The SPG approach treated elites extremely well even at the most luxurious and aspirational properties. Unlike the Marriott approach which segmented and precluded its most loyal customers from elite benefits at its most luxurious and aspiration properties.

The SPG approach had a portfolio with more affluent brands and not as many midscale brands as portfolios such as those of Marriott and Hilton.

To what “formal” approach are you referring?

Indeed.

I’ve had many SNAs not clear only to receive an upgrade to a specialty suite on arrival! My most recent stays at the Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho, StR New York, StR Punta Mita, StR San Francisco, Hotel Imperial Vienna, and W Boston are among those.

I’ve had way too many suite upgrades to specialty suites not included in the standard suite upgrade pools. Those include the Royal Overwater Villa at the StR Bora Bora, the Imperial Suite at the Hotel Imperial Vienna, the Wow Suite at the W Boston, the Charles Suite at the Liberty Boston, the St Regis Suite at the StR Houston, the Metropolitan Suite at almost every stay I’ve had at the StR San Francisco (where I am now, in fact), the Wow Suite at the W Seattle, the Nines Suite at the Nines Portland, the Dalmatia Suite at the Gritti Venice, etc.

I’ve had many Your24 requests denied (or never bothered to submit any Your24 request at all) only to arrive and be granted extremely early check in! My most recent stay at the Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho is among those—with an early check in at 7:15 am.

I‘ve even been granted beyond 4 pm late checkout a number of times—including most recently at the StR San Francisco, W Boston, StR Punta Mita, StR Houston, Le Meridien Arlington, and Le Méridien Cambridge.

I’ve also had incredibly high levels of service approaching that of the best hotels in the world across many brands, even at those that ordinarily don’t provide such high levels of personalized service. Those less likely brands include stays at the Four Points Midtown, Four Points Chelsea, Sheraton Hartford South, Le Meridien Arlington, Le Meridien Cambridge, Westin Charlotte, etc.

The SPG approach is pretty darn good for a Plat elite, and it’s spectacularly good for an Ambassador elite.

You are not understanding the difference between having an Ambassador and being recognized as having Ambassador status. I rarely call or email my Ambassador. But the distinction is a red herring.

(1) Do you get frequent and regular suite upgrades at even the most aspirational luxury hotels in the Marriott/Ritz-Carlton portfolio (that is to say, the Ritz-Carlton and Edition portfolio)? I get frequent and regular suite upgrades at the most aspirational luxury hotels in the SPG portfolio: at St Regis hotels, at Luxury Collection hotels, and at W hotels. @damon88 does, too. Happens to us all the time. We don't have to ask for those, though I sometimes do.

You seem to suggest that somehow our even asking for upgrades from our Ambassador somehow negates the fact that we might (and do) get them. As if we don't also get them without asking a thing. Just being Ambassador status often gets us plenty--something you don't seem to accept despite our many examples provided herein.

I know that you don't mention the brands at which you stay and at which you get your upgrades, so I'll assume you don't get them at the Ritz-Carlton and Edition hotels. One wonders whether or not you get those at even the best Marriott hotels among the usually less-than-aspirational Autograph and JW Marriott properties. I don't think you're getting upgrades even close to those we are sharing as examples.

I know that most regular SPG Plats don't get upgraded like we do as Ambassador guests. I know that most regular Marriott Plats and even Plat Premiers don't get upgraded like do as Ambassador guests. If you are a current iteration Marriott "Ambassador" elite and do get a lot of suite upgrades, then you already know that your "Ambassador" status is likely playing a major role in your getting upgraded a lot more than your Plat and Plat Premier peers in the Marriott universe, actually. Whether or not you asked is irrelevant.

The fact that some Ambassador guests get lots of upgrades at Le Meridien, Westin, Sheraton, Tribute, etc while others do not has much more to do with the fact that there are fewer suites at those brands and that some guests are staying at times when there is higher occupancy (and therefore fewer upgrades to be had).

(2) Do you regularly get upgraded to specialty suites well above the regular suite upgrade pool? I do. @damon88 does. Many Ambassador guests do. You don't mention the brands at which you may have received crazy and massive specialty suite upgrades, but we have. At StR Bora Bora, at Hotel Imperial Vienna, at Gritti Palace Venice, at W Boston, at Four Points Chelsea, at Four Points Midtown, at Le Meridien Arlington, at Le Meridien Cambridge, at Le Meridien Phillly, at the Nines Portland, etc. I didn't have to ask to get most of those. But even had I asked, what difference does that make?

Sorry, but regular Plats in SPG and Marriott don't get those speciality suites through anything other than a random luck of the draw, if ever. We get them with some degree of frequency because the hotels see us as VIPs. I don't have to call my Ambassador for that benefit.

(3) Do you regularly get treated as a VIP during your hotels stays--past the point from your front desk check in? I do. @damon88 does. Most Ambassador guests do, actually. Because it isn't just the front desk that is alerted to our status but usually every department in the hotels. That/s why I almost always get a great table for dinner in the hotel restaurant. That's why I almost always get a great server in the restaurant. That's why I almost always don't have to wait too long to get a drink at the bar. That's why I almost always get housekeeping attention on my room or suite. That's why I almost always get excellent service recovery when things do go awry.

I don't ask my Ambassador to do that. It just happens. That's the benefit of having that level of status--not the benefit of me having lifted a finger.

(4) Do you regularly or frequently get better breakfast treatment during your hotel stays? I do. I imagine @damon88 does. I imagine it happens for many Ambassador guests--and could happen for many Plats too. But being VIP has its privileges. And so it happens for me a lot. I've had many room service breakfasts included as part of my breakfast benefit--even though SPG clearly doesn't provide for that and no hotel has to do that. I've had many breakfasts in restaurants that allow me to order well beyond the regular Plat offering (including this morning and yesterday morning here at the StR San Francisco, in fact). That doesn't happen as easily nor as often if you aren't Ambassador status--because you're not VIP. I am not guaranteeing the perk...just indicating that many hotels can treat you even better because they choose to because you're VIP.

Offering breakfast is just a base line benefit. I've shown above that being an Ambassador guest can go well beyond that. And I know that RC and Marriott hotels are starting to recognize Ambassador status because the RC Kyoto actually mentioned that to me during my stay in May 2018. They offered me free breakfast because they didn't have a Club, not because of my Ambassador status. But they let me offer more at no additional charge because they knew I was an Ambassador guest as it turns out!

Still not sure what this has to be with Ambassador status and benefits and recognition?

They felt the need to sell because Wall Street believed they should be earning more in certain categories than they were. Starwood still was a profitable company.

Your24 isn't perfect...but it's likely to get a lot better with fewer people eligible to use it! Only Ambassador level guests have this benefit once the new program starts. Plat75s now get that benefit, too, but lose it in the new program.

It's still something you didn't have at all as a Marriott elite...that now you can get as a new Ambassador elite. It's just a way to get advanced notice of your ability to check in early. But not getting it makes it exactly the same as it was for you before and now!

Red herring alert! This has nothing to do with the Ambassador program. There are strikes going on now because of the Marriott program...bu that still has nothing to do with the Ambassador program.

it's pretty easy to not being used to standard suite pool upgrade benefits when before Marriott had NO guarantee to ANY suite upgrade whatsoever...and still does not for Ritz Carlton hotels. Red herring alert again. As an SPG Ambassador guest at SPG hotels, which you STILL don't get to enjoy until August because you're ONLY REGULAR PLAT NOW, that doesn't happen to us.

I don't have to make a call. But even if I did make a call (or send an email), the SPG Ambassador benefits of status clearly are vastly superior to those in the current Marriott universe. It isn't even close.

I'm still confused as to how this isn't blatantly obvious? And why it's blatantly obvious why Marriott wants to copy the SPG Ambassador program and most of the SPG Plat benefits in the first place?

From Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel
And yet on every Ritz Carlton confirmation they specifically say “suites excluded”

Complimentary Room Upgrade: Upgrades are based on room availability at check-in and limited to a member's personal guestroom. Upgrades may include rooms with desirable views, rooms on high floors, corner rooms, rooms with special amenities and rooms on Executive Floors. Suites are included for Platinum members only. [emphasis added] Rooms with direct Club Lounge access are excluded. All upgrades are granted on a space-available basis, as determined at the time of check-in. Upgrades are subject to availability and identified by each hotel.

I understand that is what the terms state, yet on every confirmation it has the opposite disclaimer. I have limited experience at Ritz hotels- but I did just check my confirmation for our upcoming stay in March at the Hotel Arts in Barcelona and Marriott is still including the Suite exclusion language.

You have to admit, it is confusing at best.

Ah, no. That isn’t correct. Suites “being included” is not the same as suites being guaranteed for upgrade if available. Thats why the guarantee on the copied pages previously specifically excludes Club rooms and Suites.

Suites can be included but still are entirely left to the discretion of the Ritz Carlton and Edition hotels in question for upgrades. Suites available at SPG hotels are not left to any hotel’s discretion but are absolutely guaranteed for upgrades if they are among the standard suite pool and are available. Period, end.

Ritz-Carlton and Edition currently do not guarantee a suite upgrade in any way like SPG terms currently do for any Platinum guest—much as some want to play devil’s advocate and try to pretend otherwise. It isn’t the same. Period.

St Regis and Luxury Collection and W hotels do guarantee a suite upgrade if available. Ritz-Carlton and Edition do not. It’s that simple.

Allegedly, the new loyalty program may allow Ritz-Carlton and Edition hotels to guarantee a suite upgrade in the same way that St Regis, Luxury Collection, and W hotels have been doing for years—but the details on that possibility still are sketchy. Regardless, Club level rooms and suites are not going to be part of the new Platinum standard upgrade pool. And SNAs won’t apply “at first” to Ritz-Carlton and Edition hotels, either, apparently—suggesting the possibility that Marriott has to change the IT for those to apply.

As was stated before and challenged unsuccessfully, this again still stands: